National and Local Crime Statistical Implications

Minister of Police General Bheki Cele presented the quarterly crime statistics on Friday. This is a reflection of crimes reported to the SAPS during the first quarter, from April 1 to the June 30, 2022 of the 2022/2023 financial year. While there has been a decrease in contact crime, sexual offences, contact-related crime and property crime, police have recorded an increase in commercial crime as well as other serious crimes in the first quarter of 2022/23. Police trade unions in Durban said the blame for rising crime statistics should not be placed on the police alone. Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said, "Despite (police operations) being aware of the crime conditions, they are limited by the availability of resources to make any real interventions." Mamabolo said they were calling for an urgent crime summit that will address escalating levels of violent crime, abuse of women and children, violent protests, drug trafficking and unabated police killings. Elsewhere, as contact crimes such as murder continue to plague Western Cape communities, police have planned to step up operations and resources to deal with crime generators in hot spot areas Summits focusing on rural area safety, men and youth crime prevention are also in the pipeline as the aim is to bring about change before the festive season. In addition, about 500 additional police officers will be redeployed across top police precincts in the province. This was shared by provincial police commissioner Thembisile Patekile on Monday at the police provincial headquarters in Green Point. He added that problem areas include Kraaifontein, Delft, Harare, Gugulethu, Nyanga, Mfuleni and Philippi East. He said 11 police stations were identified that are contributing to the 45% of contact crimes including murders and GBV. Patekile was joined by MEC for police oversight and community safety, Reagen Allen who unpacked the crime stats for the first quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year. Allen said: “Our recently launched Safety Dashboard is already helping us identify exactly where the LEAP officers are mostly required, so that we are direct and deliberate in their deployment.” He said there was an 8,2% reduction in the murder rate at police stations where the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers are currently deployed. Arguments, gang violence and revenge were among the top causes of contact crimes. This included 994 murders compared to 992 recorded over the same period last year.